Brownies

One of my favorite readers, Courtney, requested this brownie recipe in a comment last week.

Here is what she said, “Can we have another VOTE?? Every post I am hopeful that I might open it up to find your recipe for scrumptious dark chocolate brownies… I am NEVER disappointed by your posts, but I am still hopeful that I may experience this recipe in the future…”

Now that is just too cute. How could I say no to this sweet request? Courtney lives in Tennessee and I was fortunate enough to meet her at one of my cooking classes here in Boulder, Colorado. She has a great website with all kinds of interesting natural products on it.

Furthermore, this is my older son’s favorite treat. Whenever I ask him what he would like me to bake for him, he says, “brownies.” He loves packing these higher-protein treats in his lunch for dessert.

I recently discovered a fun website called Flavorista.com. Low and behold, I checked it out this morning and saw a fantastic write up on gluten-free by the site’s author, Barr. What I liked best about her take on this timely topic, is that she is one of the few mainstream chefs to offer an “outsider’s” perspective on the world of gluten-free. Very refreshing, witty and informative. Thanks Barr!

Comments

Made these today with following modifications and they are amazing!!
I used 1.5 x all ingredients except honey which I was low on (so I used 1/2 cup honey and 1/2 cup coconut nectar). Baked 35 minutes at 325 deg in a lined/sprayed 9×13″ Pyrex pan. My boys (ages 13, 6, and 2) LOVE them. Will be making these again next week with natural peanut butter in place of the almond butter.

I don’t think I can ever make these again. They’ve only been out of the oven for a few hours and I’ve eaten half the pan. They are so amazing. My picky boys love them too. I haven’t had a brownie since going paleo a couple of years ago. So good!

A bit late on the reply, but if other have the question, I have a hand mixer but decided to use my stand mixer and it blended everything perfectly. They are in the oven now, smelling amazing, and I can’t wait to get noshing on them!

Making these again today. They always come out perfect! I make a few substitutions to include Wax Orchards Fruit Sweet + Stevia glycerite for the honey, a couple packets of instant coffee granules, a combo of chocolate chips & chunks. I like to eat them straight out of the freezer, they remind me of $tarbucks espresso brownies without all the nasty ingredients. Thank you for such a simple, wonderful recipe!

This review is a long time coming as I have made this at least six times now. They are my go to brownie recipe. I do cut the honey to 3/4 of a cup and add about 10 drops of stevia glycerite. I’d love to reduce it more but this is basically the liquid for the entire recipe. I bake them for 30 minutes. My non grain-free family and friends love these as much as I do! When brownies are requested, this is the recipe they want! Thank you Elana. I love your website and simple recipes; they never disappoint me!

cameronbellestri@gmail.com – I tried the recipe using coconut sugar and it was amazing! I used 1 1/3 cups of coconut sugar with about 1/3 cup of nut milk/flax milk. I also added a TBL of ghee and a little more cacao. I was nervous to try it but we didn’t have any honey. The texture was perfect! The batter seemed pretty dense but it turned out great!! Thanks for an amazing recipe!

These are some of the best brownies I have ever tasted. If you shorten the baking time a minute or two they’ll come out gooey inside with a nice exterior crust. Very fluffy too! I don’t think I’ll ever go back to making normal brownies after tasting these. I am passing on this recipe to many. Definitely worth making!

I’ve made this recipe a number of times and love it! All I have is a full jar of sunbutter in my pantry at the moment…Do you think I could sub the almond butter for sun and have similar results? Have you or anyone done this before? Trying to avoid a trip to the market.

Hi. Trying this recipe for the first time. I live in Evergreen and sometimes things cook a touch different up here. There is a huge time difference between 25 and 40 mins. Is there any way to stick a knife in and know how it should look if it is done enough?

Hello, I am pleased to say these are absolutely delicious brownies. So yummy. My only regret…..I only made half the recipe, which worked really well. I won’t have had to worry about left overs lol. Next time I won’t make that mistake…..go big or go home! 9×13 all the way baby!!!!!

oh my GAWD!! I used maple syrup instead of honey, trader joes salted almond butter, dark chocolate pieces and added some walnuts and these were AMAZING!!! Hands down best brownies I’ve ever had. I used a 9×9 square pan which required an additional 15 minutes of baking but the finished product? RIDICULOUS

I made these brownies yesterday. I used homemade cashew butter instead of almond butter (since I’m allergic to almonds) and I took out the chocolate chips from the recipe since I didn’t have any. The recipe was perfect and my brownies came out soft and fluffy and delicious. It was absolutely amazing how good I felt after eating it. Not feeling weighed down and bloated was also a plus as well. Definitely try this out!!!! Loved it.

WOW! Elana these brownies sound delicious. I am definitely going to have to make a batch of brownies this way. I normally just follow the ingredients and the steps on the back of the brownie mix box from the store. I recently found an amazing raw cacao based blend of only four other natural heart healthy ingredients, that I am going to put in there! I love raw cacao and the great benefits that it gives you. I absolutely love all of your recipes! They are all SO creative! Keep it up!

Was so excited to make these! Not sure what I did wrong but mine did not come out as expected: they are dry, crumbly, and not sweet at all. They aren’t horrible, but not great or even all that good. I used stevia and honey and even added 2 tablespoons of milk.

Feeling bummed. But will still use it as a crumble topping over vanilla ice cream. :D

You need to copy the recipe exactly. I’ve tried it many times and it has never failed. I’ve found that every time I try to venture into using stevia, the recipe fails. I’ve learnt that it’s not the recipe itself but the stevia. Perhaps I’m not too good at using it in recipes.
Please for the sake of your taste buds try this recipe (the exact recipe) again. It’s absolutely wonderful and an all time favourite of mine.

Mmmm! Thank you Elana for this delicious recipe. I substituted 1 cup applesauce with 1 tsp stevia for 1 cup of the honey (I still added 1/4 cup of honey). And I did not add the chocolate chips. They were plenty sweet, and my 11 year old with a sweet tooth scarfed them down. Baked for 30 minutes. Like Elana I am at altitude (same town and altitude as Elana).

Deborah, it may be that your oven temperature is not properly calibrated. That could cause them to come out dry. We make these every week (they’re a family favorite) and they are incredibly moist. You may want to pull them out a bit earlier to keep them moist and delicious next time you make them.

I have been experimenting with these and I am using the pulp from my carrot/apple juice for added fiber. These are everyones favorites. Thanks so much for the recipe. I also leave out the chips because I cant find chocolate chips with out either sugar or agave unless artificially sweetened.

These are delicious and decadent! I made 12 brownies by cutting the recipe in half because I was not sure of the results. They are all gone! Thank you Elana for this delicious and healthy treat. I will be trying out some of your other recipes.

These brownies are great and the best part is that my family, who doesn’t like nut butters, had no idea that almond butter was used. Since I’m the only gluten free member of the family, we now have a dessert we can enjoy together.

Made these & used a muffin tin for the brownies. I made substitutions in the recipe. Instead of using all honey (I buy local, raw honey), I sub coconut sugar -1 cup, 1/4 cup honey & added about 2 tbsp of unsweetened almond milk. I used cocoa powder (did not have anything else). I baked them in a large toaster/oven for 40 minutes @325 degrees. The muffins were large, one muffin was filled too high & a little fell onto the bottom of the toaster/oven. These came out perfect!!! I have never used almond butter before. Wow!! Next time, I want to add walnuts & bake half of these & freeze the dough to bake at another time. Thanks, Elena. Love your 2.0 bread as well. Yum!

Jumped in the pool with everyone else and made these today. AWESOME. After I mixed the batter, I split it in thirds. I cooked 1/3 of the batter in a smaller pan and froze the rest in zip lock bags. It’s just hubby and I so 8 brownies is more than enough to last us one week. Of course I could have eaten the entire tray and so could hubby. Great recipe!

A little over a year ago I eliminated starch due to my ankylosing spondylitis. I’ve spent the last year immersed in the world of grain free baking and cooking. These are, quite simply, the BEST brownies I’ve tried. They’re not a grain free brownie trying to taste like a regular brownie. They are just delicious. Cake like and fudgy all at the same time. For those who are not working with a 16oz jar of almond butter (I had a 27oz jar from Costco), my sister and I calculated that it would be about 1-3/4 cups of almond butter, and my batch turned out awesome (although I did opt to bake for about 45 minutes). Thank you, Elana, for helping so many of us to heal without having to sacrifice things like brownies!!

i made these brownies yesterday and they are the best i have ever had. really! i had to give most away or i would have eaten the whole batch myself (i live alone). my only problem is the large pan size – i wish they were 8×8 or 9×9. regardless i will make them again. this was my first ever gluten free baking.

Hi Elana,
I made these brownies awhile ago and they were great! However, before you had used agave syrup. Is there a reason for the switch to honey? Do I use the same amount of agave in place of honey if I liked it that way? Thanks! -Mera

Our family loves these brownies, but they always sink in the middle. Any idea why? I’ve tried both glass and a regular metal baking pan. We live at 4400 elevation. Might that have anything to do with it?

Your blog is amazing. Even those not sensitive to wheat want this recipe. I made your brownies, took them to work. They scarfed them down like there was no tomorrow. Usually they never eat what I bring because if I mention health food it’s no thanks. This time I just said brownies. Thanks Elana for creating healthy recipes and sharing with us.

OMG these are amazing! I substituted almond butter for crunchy peanut butter and honey with maple syrup and had them with some coconut/choc chip ice cream :-) Tomorrow I will try to whip coconut milk to go with them – would have done it today but apparently you need to refridgerate coconut milk overnight before whipping. Thank you Elena!

I make a great batch of brownies that I’m known for but these are, in my mother’s words, “to die for”. They are fabulous and taste as good as, if not better than, the ones with flour. I keep having to remind myself that I can have these. Could you please provide a cooking rice recipe?

For those who make their own creamy almond butter and need to know what the measurement is for 16 ounces of almond butter, it is 1 and 3/4 cup almond butter. Almond butter is heavier in weight than liquid, so in this case 16 ounces does NOT equal 2 cups.

By the way, home made almond butter is very easy (with a food processor) to make, and much less expensive than buying at a store.

Roast raw almonds, then run them through the food processor until creamy (add salt to taste, sometimes I add a bit of stevia or other sweetner). I’m sure there are many recipes online. Much healthier when you control all the ingredients. :)

THANKS SO MUCH!!! This recipe is fantastic. Even though I baked them for about 50 minutes they still stayed super gooey. They began to burn around the edges but stayed gooey all over. Was it because I substituted Adam’s all natural peanut butter for the almond butter? I also used honey instead of agave. Not sure what I did wrong but they still tasted sensational!! Has anyone else had this issue?

THANKS SO MUCH! This recipe is fantastic. Quick question…I made these for the first time tonight and substituted the almond butter with Adam’s natural crunchy peanut butter to save myself a trip to the market. I baked them for 50 minutes total because they just wouldn’t set up. They stayed super gooey and started to burn around the edges. The taste was sensational but they were far from cake-like. Has anyone else experienced this? What did I do wrong? I want to make these right!!!

these are the closest to normal brownies i have made since i had to go gluten free. i tried using half of a different type of nut butter as we have been told to give my daughter the nuts she is not allergic to, to build resistance. half almond and half peanut tasted too strongly of peanut but half almond and half pecan tastes great and the texture is even better than when i used only almond. they are so easy to make and much closer to wheat brownies than any other grain or nut flour ones i have made or tasted. thank you!

I’ve recently discovered your site and am LOVING your recipes. Thank you! I also ordered your cookbook and am waiting for it to arrive, but tried the flourless brownie recipe in there as well. It was very good, but mine seems wetter and flatter than your recipe (was higher in the oven and took it out to cool and it got a lot flatter). Should I beat the eggs before I stir them in or just stir them in less? I’m wondering if I over-stirred?

Ok, I never make gf baked goods because they’re always TERRIBLE or COMPLICATED. This is decidedly neither. Thank you for an AMAZING, simple, easy-to-make recipe that I can even give to my kids because it’s actually relatively healthy! REally, really outstanding.

This was the very first recipe I made of yours and oh. my. gosh. I’m hooked! I offered warm brownies to my husband and 2 boys and told them nothing about the ingredients. They were moaning with every bite! I then fessed up to my husband and he promptly got another brownie because “since they’re healthy I can eat twice as much”. 24 hours later I had to hide a couple of brownies for me. I see making another pan in my near future :)

These are absolutely PHENOMENAL! I found this recipe on Pinterest and just made them. I’m relatively new to Paleo, and this was the first truly delicious Paleo dessert I’ve made. Can’t give you enough kudos. I halved the recipe, used an 8×8 pan, and baked for about 30 minutes. Can’t wait to make these again—and I’ll having fun fooling people at the office when I surprise them that they’re actually good for you! Thank you so, so much!

I just made these today and I like that the ingredients were not too bad nor expensive which sometimes impedes me making paleo desserts. Although, I need to get more almond butter and agave nectar lol. I thought the process to make was easy which is nice and the batter was hard to resist lol. I used natural cocoa powder instead of cacao which has not alkalines nor has been processed. I sampled and gave a piece to my mom who is not following paleo (I just started) and these tasted just like regular brownies. These were soooooo delicious! I will make these in the future. I will need to freeze some for future delights! Thanks for this recipe!

So, I made these brownies tonight using honey instead of the agave nectar. I am brand new to gluten free/paleo cooking. I didn’t know how long to cook them since the recipe said 25-40 minutes. I cooked them for about 30 minutes. They looked done, but when I cut into them they were nothing but goo. That in itself didn’t bother me because I really like fudgy stuff. I really wanted these to taste yummy. They smelled good enough, but they taste so weird. My family all turned their noses up at them, and I must say I threw mine away after a few bites also. What did I do wrong???

I’ve made this twice – once following the recipe, and once adding finely shredded zucchini (moisture wrung out in a kitchen towel). They tasted EXACTLY the same, only one had as much vegetable in it as nut butter. You could barely even see the little flecks of green. Next time, I’m going to put even more zucchini in there – maybe 3 cups. I’m going for it. SO GOOD.

My son is severely allergic to peanuts and hazelnuts and has a mild allergy to other tree nuts, almonds included. I am new to this Paleo Diet, having had another child 5 months ago, I want myself and my family to be healthier. Is there a substitute for almond flour? Would sun butter be a good substitute for the almond butter?

I honestly had no hope that the ones I was attempting to make would resemble in any way, shape or form what was picture…but oh my goodness, not only do they look ‘right’ but they are delicious! Since going wheat free I have missed brownies so much! Thank you, thank you, Elana!

This sounds great! I’d like to make it with sugar to make it FODMAP-friendly. How much sugar would I use & how would I go about replacing the liquid that the Agave Nectar provides? I tried to see if this was addressed in prior comments, but my iPhone crashed every time I tried to look at them. Apologies in advance if this is the case.

I’ve made these quite a few times now and they are THE most amazing thing! THANK YOU ELENA! I have a couple of things to add as far as subs etc.

– For a great variation, beat 1 bar of cream cheese with 1 egg and 1/3c of granulated sweetener until fluffy and set aside. Make brownies then drop cream cheese mixture on top and swirl through batter with a fork for a chocolate cheesecake swirl brownie. Increase baking time to 45-50 mins and temp to between 325 and 350.

– DO NOT FORGET THE BAKING POWDER (lol). Makes a product more like fudge.

– Use room temp eggs for a fluffier brownie.

– If you want to cut out the agave and use sugar subs instead, use 1 1/4 cups of sugar free syrup (Toriani or other sucralose based syrups) PLUS 1/4-1/3 cup granulated sweetener (xylitol, erythritol, Just Like Sugar all work). Any flavor will work but I usually use vanilla.

– Nevada Manna sugar free chips (erythritol based) are a great addition, again to replace the ones with sugar.

– Using RAW almond butter is fine.

– Using CRUNCHY almond butter is not. The nuts get kind of soggy. Not horrible but not great either.

Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I am new to gf baking. We use sunbutter and i am not sure how it compares to almond butter. Any tips on how much sunbutter and agave nectar i should use? Thanks for any help!

hi
I use sunbutter as well – I keep the amonts the same – but a funky thing happens – not right out of the oven but a few hours later – the baked items turn a bit green –
tastes good – but freaks some people out :)

Hi Elana! I made the brownies tonight and they puffed up in the pan and looked more like a big cake. The only thing I altered was the honey. I did 1 cup instead of 1.5. We live in Colorado at 5,000 feet; this may have something to do with it. Any thoughts? I’ve struggled with several of your recipes in Colorado. Maybe I should give them a try at a lower altitude sometime. Your thoughts would be appreciated. Or if anyone else at 5,000 feet would like to chime in, I’d appreciate it. Thanks!

Thanks for your response! I actually had tried it and it did work! The coconut brownies might not be the same exact texture of the other butters but it did become brownie-ish, and I liked the taste better than with just almond butter. I have a food service size bag of shredded coconut so I can easily make coconut butter and I need interesting ways to use it up!

I make a great batch of brownies that I’m known for but these are, in my mother’s words, “to die for”. They are fabulous and taste as good as, if not better than, the ones with flour. I keep having to remind myself that I can have these. Thank you Elana!

I’m not a baker [period], so I cannot analyze exactly where I went wrong.

I substituted Nutella for the Almond Butter [the only ingredient difference]. The mixture swelled and ran over the rim of the baking dish [round not rectangular]. At the 45 minute mark of baking the mixture was still liquified [I shot an iPhone video clip if you would like to view it]. It cooled to a flattened sticky mess [which tasted fantastic].

Of course, I thought it might have been due to the lack of a flour base, but it is obvious others have had success. So, anybody have any thoughts you want to share?

this is really similar to a recipe I’ve been using for years. only I take s 16 ounce bag of walnuts and getting them up in food processor to make walnut butter. I also chop up a 70 or higher percent chocolate bar instead of using chocolate chips.

I absolutely loved this recipe. The texture is moist and the flavor is awesome. I reduced the amount of agave and added some liquid stevia to reduce the amount of overall calories. 1/20th of the recipe is less than 200 calories. What a great treat. My kids loved it. Thank you Thank you Thank you

Eighteen bucks just for the almond butter in this recipe?! You’ve got to be kidding me.

I understand that almonds are expensive, but…I hope you’re getting kick-backs from Amazon. You can get the exact same product for much less at other online retailers (I found it at Dr. Vita for about $11 and Justin’s chocolate almond butter (interesting!) for less than $9 at another retailer).

I just made these tonight! So amazing! My picky husband was fooled into believing these were the real deal. I 1/2’ed the recipe and used fresh ground almond butter from the grocery store, 1/2 agave and 1/2 honey. I am still in awe of how wonderful they turned out. Thank you so much for this great recipe.

I made these and they were malacious. Had to cut the pan in half and take them to the neighbors as DH and I were snorfing them. The remainder didn’t last long.
I also went to Trader Joes to get more almond butter, but they didn’t have any on the shelf nor in the warehouse, so ran all over town looking for it. Finally located the 14 oz jars at Smart & Final. Just need more time to make them.
Thank you for a great recipe.

Hello! I just made these this evening and they are in the oven now. I had a problem with the texture of the batter being extremely gooey and sticking to the beaters of my mixer. I added a bit of coconut oil and that made it thin out a bit, but am a little concerned of how the finished product will be. Might be more like a fudge than a brownie, but chocolate is chocolate. Also added unsweetened coconut!

I made these brownies and they taste amazing, but the did not come out like how they did on the pic. I know photos make it all look so nice, but usually the photos are pretty accurate. I followed the recipe to a T the only difference was I used ‘Xylitol’ instead of honey or agave. People said it came out “cake like” and mine was grainy and crumbly and when I cut it it falls apart… maybe I need something else??

They taste amazing!! I cook always with Xylitol and usually this doesn’t happen with baked goods. maybe I need to add another egg??

either way, they are still amazing!! and I use your other recipes all the damn time!
GO Elana!!!

I was alittle unsure about this recipe but had full confidence in you and other recipes I’ve made from your website. I made these last night for a church function and they were fantastic. We have several gf parishoners and so for them I use and recommend your website. Extremely moist and chocolate-y. The chips made them crunchy. Great and very easy recipe. Thanks

Hi Elana!!
I lovelovelove these brownies!! I have made them once before exactly as the recipe says but was wondering if I could subsitute creamy raw unsalted almond butter for the roasted salted almond butter. What do you think? Thanks so much for bringing so much gluten-free goodness into my life!!

I just made today substituting with stevia and they turned out amazing! (Kids and husband approved!) I used 1 tsp of stevia (I use the “NOW organic stevia extract powder) + 1/4 c. of honey. I did dissolve the 1 tsp of stevia in 1 tbsp on water.

I love it! My husband loves it. It’s so simple to make. Now I just need to remember to fold in the nuts first before putting it in the pan. :) to all those asking if they can omit chocolate chips, I added nuts but no chips and it turned out wonderfully.

Substituted almond butter for sunflower butter! I don’t like baking soda and always reduce amount and it still turned out delicious! Also, we don’t eat corn (it has gluten too) so our soda is corn free too – not sure if that makes a difference. (Trader Joes has it during winter holiday season for great price).

I was looking for a healthy brownie recipe for my husband and myself, and had all of these ingredients left over in my pantry. Just pulled them out of the oven, tried a nice little corner (… I have a weakness for hot brownies), and it was surprisingly tasty for a gluten-free brownie. My best friend made some Paleo-brownies a while ago, and they were good, but my husband much prefers a little more sweetness. And the dark chocolate definitely adds a richness to this!
Kudos for a great recipe. Happy Noshings!

What a creative and delicious recipe! This is my very favorite gluten free recipe I have tried. I shared these with a group of “non gluten allergy” teachers today and they all loved them. Thank you for sharing.

Is there something I can substitute for the Agave? My husband is no longer diabetic and we avoid sugars. I want to use stevia, but need something as a filler to make up for not using the agave. Any suggestions? Thankyou

I forgot to mention that in addition to gluten free, I eat an alkaline diet, and these are one of few recipes in the “dessert” field that I have found that work and don’t have crazy ingredients. thank you for the simplicity!

Thank you deeply for this recipe. My daughter needs to be gluten free and for a young girl, that can be hard when other kids eat so much junk. It also seems a bit more of a challange to find gluten free recipes that aren’t full of sugar and a conglomeration of starches! So thank you. We are taking these brownies to a dinner invite. Im glad my daughter and I will be able to “indulge!” I am a HUGE fan of the printer version that you offer. I guess I am an old fashioned twenty-something girl. Its nice to have a physical copy. I don’t like cooking from my phone or iPad, Im always afriad ill spill on it :) Have a wonderful day.

I am so glad I found this recipe! I have been eating paleo for a while, and have not yet found a chocolately recipe that my whole family likes. These are so good, even with my modifications (only due to a BAD craving and not having everything on hand) I used unsweetened sunbutter and palm sugar and these brownies really hit the spot. Thank you.

I recently started eating more naturally (Paleo/Gluten free) but was looking for something as a treat. Tonight I baked these brownies and they were fantastic! I cannot wait to try many more of the recipes on your site! Thanks!

WOW! I made this recipe tonight and it was FANTABULOUS!!!! I’ve cut way down on refined sugars and carbs but was craving something yummy. These brownies hit the spot!!! Thank you for this delicious recipe!

Elana you have totally out done yourself! These were over the top delicious and even my girls(16 and 13) who are flour brownie fans were very impressed! Thank you from the bottom of my chocolate loving heart!
Tracy

I just made these using raw, organic honey in lieu of agave. I only used 3/4 cup honey as I worried 1.25 cups would make these too sweet. I used semi-sweet dark chocolate chips and baked them in my 8×8 baking dish (I didn’t have a 9×13. I have less brownies but thicker ones and oh, my…delicious!!!! I cannot believe how much better these taste than brownies made with flour (truly fudgy). I’m digging the recipes with almond butter and can’t wait to try the ones with almond and/or coconut flour. Thank you for another great recipe.

These are fantastic. I would put them against any “normal” brownie, hands down. These could and should win awards. Seriously. I reduced the agave to 1 cup (because that is all I had) and used Enjoy Life chocolate chips. Sensational. If I am going to make these regularly, I will find a replacement for the roasted almond butter as the one I used was $10 a jar. Thanks so much for the recipe. I can now stop looking for the perfect brownie :)

Thanks so much for the wonderful recipes!!! Some friends and I are working to lose weight and one of them is on the Candida diet. I was searching for recipes for her to try and came across your site! I am loving it!!! Not only are your recipes healthy and with whole foods, they looks DELICIOUS!!!! I cannot WAIT to try some of them tonight!! :-)

Fabulous! I only used a little sweetener and added some diced prunes. It is 90 degrees here today so I baked them in my mini donut maker for 2and a half minutes. Moist and wonderful. I love the simple ingredients of these recipes. I ordered some of the recommended almond flour and can’t wait to try many more of these recipes!

I have been gluten free for two years. I made the decision after I had a horrible gall bladder attack and did not want to have surgery.

I have been dairy free for about two months and wish I would have made this change twenty years ago. I made this decision after dermatologists could do nothing to stop my painful cyst like acne. I read a few comments of people who cut dairy and improved their skin. To my surprise it worked for me too!

I feel so much better following a paleo diet!
So glad I found this website!

SO GOOD!!! I am amazed at how brownie-like these are without any flour! I made a half batch in a 9×9 pan – next time I’ll decrease the time to probably 25 minutes, because they came out very cake-like w/ 30 min. I’m currently on a super strict diet: free of gluten, wheat, oats, soy, nuts, and minimal sugar. So you can imagine, it’s hard to find recipes I can actually use. Instead of the almond butter, I used sunflower seed butter and took out the chocolate chips (since mine had soy derivatives), and they taste great! After not having something desserty in a while, these were a fabulous treat.
p.s. They freeze great, and are even a little more fudge-y when defrosted!

Made these last week for my sister’s birthday, she is in the middle of an elimination diet to treat a mood disorder. Thank you for giving her the most delicious grain,dairy and corn free great she has had in months. What a happy birthday!

Hi Elena, I just came across your Brownie recipe (and your blog) and decided to try it…I’m a vegan so decided to make my own experiment by substituting eggs for flaxseeds…and they are just DELICIOUS! Just wanted to share this :) awesome mix! will keep on trying some other of your stuff …those that I can make vegan (if you dont mind!)

Hi Elana
I have been a very big fan of your blog for about 2 years since we went Paleo. Recently my daughter was diagnosed with alot of food allergies and intolerances which has forced me to come up with substitutions. This is what I did to still make your awesome chocolate brownies and the result was a success! Thought I would share as I often see you and your readers comment about possible substitutions. Love your site!! Amyhttp://www.facebook.com/notes/amy-jelley/chocolate-brownies-egg-dairy-nut-and-grain-free/313009928722262

These look so delicious, I am so excited to make them ! I have a query though: I have Raw Cacao Powder in the cupboard, will that do? Does it make a difference that it is raw cacao? I know it has no sweetness and has a bitter taste, but perhaps the addition of agave or honey as the sweetener in the recipe will suffice? Help please! Really want to make these but don’t want to waste expensive ingredients if the raw cacao makes the brownie bitter! thank you in advance! xx ps: I made the Almond Butter Blondies last night, and Oh my! They are so amazing! Recommend them to all that love this brownie! And Elana, thank you so much for such delightful recipes.

I made these brownies last night and not only are they the best gluten-free brownies I’ve ever eaten, they are the best brownies I’ve ever had PERIOD! The almond butter substitution for flour is simply brilliant. Once mixed with the cacao powder (I use Dagoba), it becomes rich, fudge-alicious batter. I think I’ll make another batch for the bake sale table at my church’s fall festival tomorrow. No one ever thinks of the GF folks at these things!

Wow! These are by far the best brownies…sugar/flour included…I’ve ever eaten! (and I’ve eaten a lot) I make these every other week, each time adding something new to it! I send them to work with my husband, to my children’s teacher and EVeRYONE loves them! Last week I added dark choc. And mint chips. I cooked them just a min ot two less and got very soft, chocolaty brownies. I’ve also added different nuts, ect. Ive cut the agave to just under a cup and I now add about half cup of chocolate almond milk to the batter, it makes it smoother and adds a little more sweetness to it. Thanks so much Elana for all the wonderful recipes!!!

Dannnng… these are good. I used 1 cup of honey in place of the agave. I think I overbaked them, so they are a wee bit dry, but they taste amazing! Thanks so very much. I don’t eat grains and am thrilled to find a brownie I can enjoy.

When I first saw this recipe, I couldn’t believe that there could be a good brownie recipe with ingredients I could use! I just made these today and I was pleasantly surprised. I can’t use agave, sugar, or honey because I’m on a very low-carb diet. I substituted the agave with 1/2 cup milk substitute or cream and 3/4 cup xylitol. These came out so good. They are moist, chewy, and fudgy. I’ve missed brownies! Now they’re back in my life! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!

Wow!! I’m just starting paleo but have been gluten free for 2 years. This recipe is incredible!! I’m taking it to a halloween party tomorrow and i’m positive they won’t know it’s gluten free and paleo!! Thanks so much!

OMG! I just made my 3rd batch of these brownies and they are soooo delicious! I added 1/4 of chopped walnuts and 2 tbsp. of coconut and everyone loves them. I served them with coconut gelato for a dinner party and everyone asked for the recipe. Costo has organic almond butter for $5.99 per 28 oz jar so they are economical as well. YOU ROCK!

I made these last night, subbing 1 cup of honey for the agave nectar, and adding 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce for added moistness. They turned out AMAZING!! Love them and will be making this often! Thank you!!

These are the easiest and most delicious brownies I have made. I love that they are flourless and have such a short list of ingredients. I didn’t believe that they would make 24, so I put the batter in just one smallish pan. I was so surprised when they doubled in size while baking! The second time I made them, I used two metal cake pans and baked them for 30 minutes. Perfect all around. Plenty of brownies to share.

Since I can’t eat cane sugar, I used Endangered Species chocolate bars chopped up in place of the chocolate chips. Also, I mistakenly bought chunky unsalted almond butter, and they were still perfectly delicious.

Made these brownies last night and received rave reviews. Unfortunately i am now told i can no longer tell everyone how good they are for you so i will try to secretly contain this information! This is the best brownie recipe i have ever tried (and i have absolutely no reason in my family to go gluten-free!!!) Thank you Elana!

I can’t believe how fluffy these brownies turned out!!!! My boys loved them–Of course I didn’t tell them they were gluten free and made out of almond butter. I don’t like things too sweet so I cut the agave in half and they were still so delicious! Thank you for sharing this scrumptious recipe!!!

I just made these, and they’re great! I’ve loved all the GAPS desserts since I started the diet, but my family thinks most of them are worthless compared to “real” desserts. I served these to my parents, siblings, kids and husband tonight, and every single person liked them! They all say you’d never know they’re flourless. I used 1 cup honey to sweeten them, and peanut butter (didn’t have almond butter on hand), and they’re fabulous. So filling, unlike normal desserts that leave you craving more. Hooray for good brownies!

I have made these a bunch of times back in the US and they came out fluffy and cake like. I am now living in South Africa and have tried the recipe twice and the brownies are coming out more gooey and more like mud i guess! Still tasting yummy but not as good.

The only thing I haven’t been using is the almond butter. Haven’t seen it in many stores so I have been using a mix of peanut and sun flower seed butters. I also don’t use as much agave nectar and add a little bit of coconut oil. Do you think that’s what’s making the difference?

Between the 2 nut butters and the added coconut oil, it sounds like there’s too much oil, making your batter very heavy. I would either omit the added coconut oil or add another egg or two to balance it out. That should help.

These were awesome! I just made them and I loved them. They didn’t taste at all like almonds and were just as good as the Triple fudge brownies I use to buy for $3. a box. I can’t eat many almonds due to my daughter nursing, she can’t handle them yet. :( But they are going to be made around here often, and great Christmas presents.
I made my own almond butter too, by just roasting the almonds for 8 min. in the oven at 325. Then pureeing them in my magic bullet (tried the ninja too, either can be used, if you don’t have a processor)to peanut butter consistency and then add a little salt.
We had our neighbor try try them and she couldn’t believe we used almonds, instead of flour. Thank you so much Elana for coming up with these amazing desserts. We don’t have to eat gluten free, but we have chosen to eat as close as we can, do to wanting to get healthy and loose some weight (due to having three kids). You’re recipes are so good we only think we’re cheating! Thanks!

I made these tonight with a new brownie pan I got for my birthday…the Bakers Edge Brownie Pan…all the brownies have edges…oh my! I used only 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and added 1/2 cup chopped walnuts…fabulous! I could eat the whole pan!!!! Thanks so much for this recipe!

Dear Elana,
Absolutely fantastic brownies! Just made them with my son to take with us to the party.
What I especially like about your recipes (so far I used 3 of them), that they come out perfect for me: no need for time/temperature/proportions adjustments – they work great!
I’m looking forward to trying more recipes from your site (just received my almond flour per your recommendation).

At the risk of being redundant – this website is fantastic! I have a son with behavioral issues who’s and/or affected by gluten, dairy, nuts, sugar, corn… and even more perhaps.

We’ve been following a diet in a book called “UltraMind Solution” (Dr. Mark Hyman) which is designed to reduce inflammation “sensitive people” experience when exposed to dairy, wheat, etc. But, as good as the recipes are, the ones here are so many and ingenious, and the substitutions so helpful; it is in short, it’s the answer to prayers.

That said, I have a Cream Biscuit recipe I just can’t seem to make satisfactorily without- you guessed it – cream.

Thanks Elana! These were awesome…realized half way thru only had 1/4 cup of agave, so, put in a cup of coconut oil and some coconut sugar and cooking stevia/erythitol mix..left out the choc chips and added currents..perfect! xx

I am a new cook and just discovered this website. These brownies were my first attempt and they were perfect! I used peanut butter (it was all I had) and the taste is amazing!!! The texture is more brownie-like and not cakey as others have stated. I baked them for 35 minutes as directed and then took them out to cool. My boyfriend loves them too much and says I have to give them away before we eat the whole pan.

Thank you for this fabulous recipe! These are the best gluten free brownies hands down. I did make some substitutions: unsalted dry-roasted almond butter (salted AB was not available), grade B maple syrup instead of agave syrup (tastes better IMHO) and Whole Foods 70% Cacao Dark Chocolate Mini Chunks (Dagoba Chocodrops not available locally). I’ve made both regular and gluten free brownies from scratch over the years and this is the only recipe that produced a “real” brownie texture and taste.

I made these with 1/4 cup agave then 1 1/2 cups (about) brown rice syrup (because i was out of agave) and crunchy peanut butter (again, it was what i had), then later made them with only agave, per the recipe the next time (though again with PB). I found the brown rice syrup version to be deliciously gooey and fudgelike, if you prefer that type (which I do), the latter to be more cakey. The BRC version took a little longer to bake and looked a little like souffle in the oven but turned out quite well :). I think I’ll go back to my original next time!

So good! I made these with carob powder, carob chips, applesauce, and liquid stevia drops. Like someone suggested, I also only left them in for twenty minutes, and they turned out nice and deliciously squishy! Now they’re gluten free, dairy free, and low-glycemic!

Elana these brownies are fabulous! I made them on Saturday for my family and between my family and friends that stopped by on the weekend they were gone by Sunday morning! Thank you so much for sharing! :) This is the best thing I have ever tasted that is gluten free! So yummy and decadent yet healthy!! Thank you again!

Elana,
I have been substituting carob powder for the cocoa powder and carob chips for the chocolate chips in your brownie recipe. I have several family members who can’t have or are staying away from chocolate and caffeine. The carob powder has such a smooth taste in this brownie recipe. The carob chips are a little more crunchy but everyone seems to like them that way. I have also added pecans or walnuts to the recipe for those who love nuts. I get requests from my family to bake these at least once a week.

We are new to gluten free food and I am glad I found this website. I made the brownies for my 3yr old son and it was a big hit. The texture is great and easy to make.

I am not very good at baking. I tried the recipe as it is except the chocolate chips. After 40min, the outer portion got cooked but not in the middle. I cooked it for 10 more minutes and middle portion got cooked but the outer portion got burnt. Is this something I did? Any suggestions?

It sounds like your oven temp might be off or maybe you didn’t use the size of pan called for in the recipe (or maybe it wasn’t pyrex). Metal pans may require alterations in the bake time as will a different size pan. If that’s not the problem, I would assume your oven temp is a bit off. You can get a thermometer that reads inside but has a display outside so you can be sure or you can wing it and turn the oven temp down a few degrees. If you search in the forums, there have been a few discussions of similar issues.

Hi, Elana. Do you have any suggestions on how to convert these to egg free as well? I am pregnant and CRAVING brownies big time, but I’m gf/cf/eggfree. I’ve tried mixes egg free but the oil separates from the rest of the mix…I think it needs eggs for emulsifying…thanks!

Oh my God! I have them in the oven… and reading trhough the recipe again, I noticed that I accidentally left the baking soda out! :( I hope they are not too dense… the batter tasted good though, but I will need to bake them again, to really know what the actual recipe is like. Before I had thouht that baking powder and baking soda were used only with recipes that contained wheat flour…

Mine are in the oven right now. I admit I was filled with disbelief when I saw the recipe. But when I made the batter I couldn’t believe how very much like a normal brownie recipe it was. I can’t wait to try them out with my sugar-free peppermint ice cream.

Thanks for your great blog. I just found it. But then, I just started a sugar-free, grain-free diet. The other day I was cooking and my husband said, Is this dinner or dessert? I said, What’s the difference when you’re on this diet?

Elana, obsessed with your site, because i love to bake and eat sweets but I live a paleo lifestyle so its often tough to indulge. Not anymore! Made the brownies for my mom, who is a stubborn wheat/sugar addict. she LOVED them. very delicious! Thanks

Elana – I am wondering if you have any suggestions on how to modify the recipe to make it vegan? I love it how it is but would like to be able to share it with some vegan friends and I am not sure what to use instead of eggs?

If you scroll up there is a post from Holly that describes an egg substitute she used. Also, there are a number of threads in the forums where different egg substitutions are discussed. I haven’t seen any mention of using vegenaise as a substitute but I know I’ve made gluten cakes in the past with regular mayo instead of eggs. If I needed a vegan egg substitute, I would try vegenaise as it would have a somewhat similar profile to an egg. I’ve seen various recommendations for anywhere from 1-3 tablespoons of mayo per egg. I would start on the low end and see how your batter turns out. It should be thick but still workable and you could add more as needed.

I’ve been using chia seed gel as an egg replacement in all my baking lately– 1 Tbsp seeds hydrated in 3 Tbsp water = 1 egg. Flax seeds work the same way, but I have a 5-lb. bag of chia seeds, so those are what I use. Everything has come out perfectly so far, including these brownies! The seeds are, however, noticeable in the brownies re: texture (they have no taste), so you might want to grind them if you prefer things smooth.

Your brownie recipe is delicious and has made me the official brownie maker for friends, family and co-workers. I cant count the number of times I’ve written down your recipe OR referred people to your website!

these brownies are fabulous!!! The first time I made them, I put toasted flax seeds in the batter..yummy!! The batter was a little thick, so the second time I made them, I used just a little almond milk to thin it a bit. I will ALWAYS keep ingredients on hand to make these moist brownies!!!

I made these and they’re delicious! I wonder if you could amend for future folks NOT to use the hand blender to blend beyond JUST the almond butter. Switch to a food processor or something – I blew out the motor on my hand blender with this recipe because I was using it the whole time for all the blending. Now I’ve got to buy a new one.

I am enjoying your recipes – my friend got your book, she made the lemon bars for a party last night, and I made these and am going to add chocolate frosting to them. So good!

As everyone…I love your recipes! I wanted to post because my husband has tree nut allergies, so I use fresh ground peanut butter from my local health food store for these. I keep everything else the same..using chopped up Dagoba bars for the chocolate. We like them fudgy, so I cut the bake time by a bit. They are great! Thanks for the recipe!

Thanks for this great recipe. I’m on SCD, so I substituted honey for the agave nectar, cocoa butter for the chocolate chips, used cashew butter instead of almond butter (as I have no shortage of almonds in my life), and I left out the cocoa powder.

What you’ve neglected to mention in your recipe is how to NOT eat so many of these rich golden nuggets that you spend the night moaning, “Ooh, I really shouldn’t have eaten those last few pieces”. My 2 year old is now crying because I will not give her a piece before dinner (“I need more cakey Mama”). These brownies are unfairly, diabolically good. And did I mention rich?

I cannot wait to try these for my family! It is too bad that I can’t make them for school or other children’s events… in most places in Ontario, anything for children is nut-free due to peanut allergies. Oh well, we can still enjoy at home! :)

I just started a diet (the GenoType Diet by Dr. D’Adamo) that not only tells me to avoid most forms of wheat, but requires me to stay away from vanilla for 3-6 months. Any ideas on how to get around the vanilla restriction with regards to brownie, cookie, etc. recipes besides just eliminating it? I hate to sacrifice flavor. Thanks for your work!

These brownies ROCK! I made several changes to the recipe, but they still turned out SO yum-o! I think next time I might try to reduce some of the sweetness, though.

Even my husband like these. I tried a different nut butter since he’s not a fan of the texture of some other GF recipes that use almond butter, meal, or flour. (I think since almonds are more dense than most other nuts, they make baked goods too gritty for HIS taste.)

Here’s how I changed up the recipe:
* Used unsalted cashew butter instead of almond butter.
* Used plain sea salt. I added 1/4 tsp more since my cashew butter was unsalted.
* Replaced the agave with a mixture of maple syrup, honey, and brown rice syrup.
* Used 1.5 ounces of 88% chocolate in bar form (broken into pieces) instead of the cup of choco-drops. This was plenty “chocolately” for us!
* Baked it for 33 minutes in a slightly larger ceramic dish. I greased it with virgin coconut oil–wish I had used something else due to the strong coconut taste. (I like coconut but didn’t think the amount used to grease the pan would taste so strong.)

Instead of a hand mixer, I used my stand mixer with great results–just scraped down the bowl a few extra times.

Elana, I’m a recent reader of your blog, and this is only the second recipe of yours that I have tried. Thanks!!! These were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

These brownies are AMAZING!!! We enjoyed them with some coconut ice-cream tonight! I received your almond flour cookbook as a gift for Christmas and was thrilled to read you have a website as well! It’s hard to find good gluten-free recipes that are easy and delicious. Not only am I gluten-free but my boyfriend and I also follow a “paleo” diet (inspired by my brother). So, it’s wonderful that you use almond flour and agave and other ingredients that are paleo-friendly! Thanks so much for your hard work, I’m so happy to get to cook and bake and be healthy too! :)

wow…these are absolutely amazing!! I just about ate half the pan by myself! :D Are these really healthier than normal brownies calorie wise? I know they have proteins and vitamins, but are they ok to eat throughout the day as a small snack or should I be careful because these pack a lot of calories? :D Just curious if I need to make these only when guests are over so I don’t eat as many! Thanks for the recipe though!!!! Brownies were my favorite dessert before going GF, so i was so excited when these turned out just like the real thing. Thank you Elana for another great dessert recipe! You’re awesome!

These brownies did work for me, with the coffee. I like to use big chocolate chips and keep them in freezer. This way they don’t melt as fast as they bake and you bite into nice chocolate bits. I also get the giant bottle of almond butter from costco and guesstimate the 16oz – I use about two heaping cups. Maybe I’m not using as much almond butter as required. I also slightly under-bake the brownies so they are more moist.

If you can’t use coffee, maybe add more vanilla, or some peppermint extract (if you like the chocolate-mint combination). I thought I read someone using a Splenda or Stevia syrup instead of agave nectar…..

These are the BEST gluten-free baked goods that I have ever ever tried/made!
Seriously, I just ate 2 (out of 24), and I’m having an extremely hard time resisting a 3rd, 4th, and 5th =).
They are THAT good… trust me, best 15$ I have ever spent on food! (10 for the almond butter and 5 for the agave nectar).
I only put in 1 cup of agave nectar, and they turned out amazing!

<3 Melissa

PS The batter for these brownies has to be one of the best I've ever eaten :D

Sorry, I hate to be a “negative Nelly”, but while these are OK I’ll keep looking for a better recipe. I know it’s probably my tastes as there was nothing wrong with the recipe, it came out fine. I love almonds, just not almond butter. I taste the almond butter above everything else in this recipe. I can barely taste the chocolate and the sweetness is just an after taste to me even though I added 1/4 cup extra because I wasn’t using the chips. I used maple syrup since it seems agave doesn’t agree with me. The texture for me, is too much like a cake and nothing like I expect a brownie to be.

They won’t go to waste though because hubby loves the almond butter and will probably gobble these right down.

My advice for anyone else considering making these who is not a “fan” of almond butter is to not bother with it and use a different nut butter for your batch.

I tried them because I was hoping the cocolate would be enough to cover the almond butter taste as it does with almond flour. Not that I have a problem with almond flour. It has a mild taste to me. No matter, now I know I need a different recipe for this item.

Sorry but I can’t use the agave nectar or the sugared chocolate chips for my body. The results are not pretty.

By the way Elana, my hubby loved this brownie recipe. He said they were just right on the chocolate taste. Not bitter to him like most brownies and he ate 4 right away. He rarely eats more than one because he doesn’t care for the dark chocolate taste of brownies.

I used peanut butter and they came out wonderful. You can taste a hint of the peanut and for us it goes deliciously with the chocolate. Organic peanut butter is much cheaper then organic almond butter too. Also, I think I’d try a few drops of vanilla stevia and an extra egg instead of the maple syrup, maple and chocolate don’t seen to go together to me. Can you tolerate stevia?

Donna, I made my own own super creamy almond butter from 4 cups of almond flour blended in my food processor with 1/3 cup of coconut oil (could have used palm kernel shortening or a little less amount of almond oil). It took several minutes, with little rests for my wimpy machine, but the result was very smooth and a very mild flavor which I couldn’t taste at all in the brownies. I cannot use agave or honey, either, but coconut nectar worked very well. I chopped up a ChocoPerfection bar (erythritol sweetened) and the result was fudgy, chewy, chocolatey HEAVEN!!! (Thnk you so much, Elana, for all you do!!!!) I love the idea of making my own chocolate chips/chunks as sugar free/gluten free ones are nearly impossible to find – even with poor sweetener choices like maltitol and sorbitol or worse. Adrienne@www.wholenewmom.com has a good chip recipe as does Caroline@ http://www.mygutsy.com. Adrienne also has great tips for sweetener substitutions and conversions if you have to adapt recipes. Hope this helps someone.

Perhaps adding a little instant coffee powder will help? I personally love these brownies, but couldn’t stand the raw batter because of the almond butter. Many chocolate desserts use coffee to help bring out the flavor more, so I thought why not? Good luck!

I made these earlier in the week; they were very delicous. I think I will cut back a bit on the agave nectar next time because I think they would still be totally delicious with a little less sweetness (and also less imposing on my blood sugar). Thanks! I can’t wait to try more recipes.

This is very innovative recipe for making low-carbohydrate brownies! I think I’m going to give it a try with stevia extract to see if I can make it lower in simple sugars. This is a great place to start, though. Thanks Elena!

i have to say these were the best brownies i have ever tasted, ever made. husband loved them as well. they are sexy, dark and never again will i ever have a store bought or someone else’s brownie again. it’s so not worth it to me. if i’m going to have a brownie, it’ll be this recipe. IMPRESSIVE!

Gina- maybe your almond butter wasn’t completely mixed with its oil? If unmixed, your almond butter will be dry and hard to mix with other ingredients. I’ve made this recipe a dozen times and it always comes out moist and delicious. Good luck!

Hi,
I made the brownies, but had a little difficulty. After I mixed the 365 brand (whole foods) almond butter with eggs, it became very thick and I could not mix the rest of the ingredients easily. I was expecting a cake batter consistency (or close to that) but at the end, it was clumpy and I patted the batter with my hands. The brownies are dry and I heat them up when I want to eat to make it a little softer and browny-like. Do you have an idea what was wrong?

Was it roasted almond butter? I made this mistake once- I used the Whole Foods almond butter that you crank out in the bulk section, and it was too dry – was never sure if it was because there was no oil added or if it was because it was raw almond butter.

Hi Elana. First of all, I love your recipes and their simplicity! Thanks so much for sharing them with us. I made these brownies this weekend for a friend who is Diabetic. I modified the recipe to make them sugar free. I made my own chocolate chunks by melting two unsweetened 4 oz chocolate bars and adding about a half of cup of agave. I poured it into a parchment lined pan and put it in the freezer. Then I broke it up into chunks and added it to the brownies. They turned out amazing and everyone was impressed! Just thought other sugar free people might want to know. Thanks again!

This recipe satisfies my chocolate cravings in a healthy way. THANK YOU ELANA! I have made this recipe several times. I have had everyone try it, from kids to grandmothers and they can’t believe there is no flour and is low in sugar. One time I coarsely chopped up dark chocolate disks since I was out of chips. I suppose they are to be melted down for candies. I was thrilled with the result: big chunks of chocolate gooey goodness. I will continue to rave about your recipes for my friends, family and readers. Good luck with your cookbook. I can’t wait to see it in the stores!

Wow! A fellow GF client brought these yummy treats in and I was amazed! They are so chewy and rich. I haven’t had anything like this since going GF. I can’t wait to make them for my 4 year old! Thanks…

M, The first time I made these the organic almond butter was on sale for less than half the price it usually sells for. Now that it’s back to full price, the next time I make them, I will use Organic Sunbutter (sunflower seed butter, but only organic has no other ingredients added) because I can’t afford the price of the almond butter these days.

Elana- I made these brownies last week, and they were soooo good! They’re already gone! I was really thrown when I saw how much almond butter to use (I used peanut butter), but they turned out fabulously! I also used grain-sweetened chocolate chips. I would recommend to people wishing to try this to chill them in the refrigerator before trying to cut into them (i.e. right out of the oven = crumbly mess). Thanks so much for a delicious gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, worry-free recipe! =)

These are in the oven now! Finally! I used my Kitchenaid immersion blender and it shorted out on me! Even my electrical engineer husband couldn’t repair it. :(

I checked to see whether your Amazon store included a hand/immersion blender and it did…but it’s unavailable. I then walked to the store and found a Cuisinart model, only to see that 1) it’s not powerful enough to mix this batter and 2) the thin plastic coating on the power button is flaking off. Gross! So that needs to get returned. Ultimately, I ended up using an electric mixer, which worked fine. But I’m wondering if 1) you have another source for the Braun hand blender you recommended or another model that you would recommend and 2) what made you decide to use a hand blender and not, say, a Cuisinart food processor or electric mixer? Thanks!

I love, love, love this recipe! I like them better than conventional brownies. I live with POTS and am very sensitive to grains, so it’s great to have an occasional sweet treat that doesn’t leave me with brain fog and vision loss. Thank you so much!

Just wanted to share a substitution I make, for those who do not use agave. I replace the agave nectar with an equal amount of applesauce and then add a little stevia to taste. I have made it several times this way and it always turns out moist and delicious. It also bakes up a little faster with these changes, I think (though it could just be that I prefer my brownies underdone). I took my last batch out after about 20 minutes.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for saving my life. I am not necessarily a person who suffers from CD, but I am someone who has had a life long addiction to sugar that had been affecting my health in many ways. Just recently…April 26th to be exact…I began fasting unhealthy sugars/sweeteners and have been using agave nectar instead. I cannot tell you how great I feel! With the change in my diet…from eating organic, low-no processed foods, and adding 100% therapeutic grade essential oils into my life, I feel better than I ever have. You have given us some of THE MOST AMAZING desserts that I have ever put into my mouth. I couldn’t belive how moist, chewy and ganache-ey your brownies were. I am eternally thankful to you for your research, resourcefulness and all of your hard work for those of us who want to live healthier lives. What a blessing that you are to so many of us!!

ooops…I forgot to mention that your recipes being sugar free are what drew me to your website, although, my father-in-law has CD and I can use these recipes for him as well as share them with the family. All of the food is delicious!! You really don’t even miss the “other” stuff!!

Kisha, thank you so much for your comments above! They are so very sweet and I really appreciate them. I am so glad that you are enjoying my website. I love what I do and knowing that I am able to be of help to others makes it even better! Keep me posted on how all of your cleansing goes. xoxo

Thanks for your feedback, Elana. Once I finish off all this raw butter, I’ll look for the roasted, but it’s good to know the recipe will still work with what I have on hand.
I certainly did enjoy the ONE single brownie I had. Hubby gobbled down the rest of the pan himself, and pronounced them the best he’s ever had!

sami congrats on your 23 day detox and I’m so glad you enjoyed the brownies. Hope the husband was fooled!

Karen -Thanks for your comment, I don’t think the problem is the measurements so much as the fact that you are using raw almond butter (the recipe calls for roasted). Either way, I hope you are enjoying them :-)

When trying this recipe again, I realized the problem. My current almond butter is in a 9 lb. tub (Once Again Raw Almond Butter) so I measured it in cups, and used 2 cups the first time, which caused an overly mooshy middle.
The second time I used the proper equivalent: 16 oz. jar = 1 3/4 c. (according to peanutbutter.com) and the result was much better, though still a tad soft in the center.
All in all, I’ve purchased 4 different brands of almond butter and noticed a difference in how thick their textures are due to varying oil content, so this probably has some effect on the final texture of the brownie.

I ate one of these at my nutritionist’s office after I had just completed a 23 day detox diet—it was FABULOUS! I will make these and serve them to my husband who will not be able to tell the difference from a regular brownie. VERY impressive for a flourless recipe! Thanks for your website!

Kiki, thanks for stopping by! Since I only cook with celtic sea salt, I’m not sure how the recipes would turn out with a substitution. Sounds like you’ve got a good experiment on your hands. Please let us know how it goes :-)

This is my first time on your website and I really like it. I was just wondering about one thing. You use celtic sea salt a lot. Is that necessary or is that because you prefer it to ‘normal’ salt? Can the sea salt be substituted with normal salt?

Karen -We make these weekly over here (even my children bake them) and we haven’t encountered this problem. I would try the regular recipe without the substitutions, it works without the burning problems you mention in your comment. Good luck and let me know how it goes!

I made these yesterday for a Mother’s day cookout. My almond butter was unsalted so I upped the salt to 1 tsp. I cut the sweetener back to 1 cup, using about half a c. agave with a quarter c. each of brown rice syrup and yacon syrup. My chips were Sunspire grain-sweetened.
The only problem I had was the brownies became well-done around the edges of the pan(after 40 min at 325) but they were definitely too underdone in the middle, so I could only serve the outside edge pieces to my company.
The edge pieces were wonderful in taste, seeming to lose the almond butter flavor so you could not tell what the base was – not so with the underdone center.
Would using another type of pan besides pyrex make a difference in the end baking result?

I've just started to experiment with baking gluten free, and these brownies were my first experiment. They are amazing! I can't believe how almond butter turns out so light! They were chocolaty and not too sweet – I loved them!

Thanks for the recipes! I found your site last week, and there's so many things I want to try!

These brownies are fantastic! They are a nice treat for my daughter who has a dairy sensitivity! I have made them twice and everyone has loved them. The second time I made them with organic peanut butter as I didn’t have any almond butter on hand, and the substitution worked out beautifully.

Nice recipe, thanks for sharing! I think I overbaked mine a bit as they were a bit dry but that’s also personal preference as my guests loved them. Great flavor and texture – like real brownies! I used cocoa nibs instead of chocolate chips (no refined sugar) and they added a great crunch.

I wanted to thank you again, Elana, for all your wonderful work. I just served my family a late Passover dinner, with your brownies, carrot cake and sesame cookies to top it off. They were all absolutely amazed that Passover sweets could actually taste great. (Though I was told by a cousin that technically baking soda is not supposed to be used, as it is a leavening agent… no one seemed to care.) Anyway, just thanks. And thank you for everything you believe in, and everything you share. You are inspiring.

We are having a family get together this weekend and I’m making the brownies and chocolate chip cookies to share. I love them both plus it will give me some treats that I can eat at the party.

Also, do you have any go-to foods that you use for traveling? I’m doing some traveling over the next few months and I’ve thought the power bars and the granola might be good options but I wondered if you had any thoughts.

I’m so glad I found your site! I try to follow a low glycemic diet, and my daughter needs to avoid wheat and dairy, so your recipes are right up our alley. Anyhow, I made these brownies today, and they were amazing! My family of four all loved them, and my son said they were just as good, if not better, than any other “regular” brownie. Nobody would ever guess they don’t contain any type of flour. My local market was out of creamy almond butter, so I was forced to use crunchy, and they still turned out great. So delicious…thanks for sharing!

I have made these twice now and loved them. My kids can’t eat eggs (unfortunately!) so I make them with flax seed gel. The first time they sank quite a bit so this time I added a small mashed sweet potatoes and baked them in individual portions. They held their shape better this time and I was able to cut the agave a bit since the sweet potato added moisture and sweetness to it.

Elana–made these last night and yummm! I had waited a month to get more Dagoba chocodrops and these were the first thing I made after they arrived. I’m having so much fun baking with your recipes. And since I’ve been off dairy, wheat and sugar for the last two months I’ve lost about 25 pounds. I love the I can have great treats like these and feel healthy too.

Elana, you’ve saved my life. I have just started being gluten-free (also refined sugar-free, preservatives free, etc.) about two weeks ago because of Dr. Frank Lipman’s Spent program. I have always grown up eating everything out of a box or frozen foods, especially cookies and baked goods. I thought this change in my life would be so difficult and was already worried I may let it become just a fad for me, but finding your website has made it possible to imagine this as a permanent life change. Thank you for all of your recipes, stories, and advice. I tried your brownies the very night I found the recipe and wrote about it on my new blog wwww.emtestkitchen.wordpress.com talking about eating on Spent (linking to your recipe of course). They were fantastic and made a great bday present for my diabetic friend.

I wanted to post one more variation: I made 1/2 of this recipe (using my other half of cashew butter) but I added 2 eggs instead of 1. I got brownies that were more cake-like but still had a bit of gooiness. Very yummy.

I loved making these brownies! And I wanted to see if my chia seed egg substitution would work. And…. drum role please…….(really, at this moment, my husband is down in his basement office practicing on his djembe!!!! :^) A corporate guy on the djembe.)
The brownies turned out great! The first batch disappeared really fast and so I made a second batch the next day, since my goal was to treat our Park City drum circle to brownies that night. The second batch was a bit different because I purchased a different brand of almond butter and found out while cleaning the jar, that it had a few extra ingredients (flax seed, palm fruit oil, agave). So the brownies were just a bit firmer due to this. Still good and still gooey.
Thank you thank you for such a good recipe! I needed a good GF low carb brownie fix.
I will post my changes to this amazing recipe with chia seed substitution for the eggs on my blog.http://earthheartsong.blogspot.com/
and of course with full credit to Elana! Brownie mana from heaven Queen!

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate hearing about all of your creative substitutions for this recipe and I am glad you enjoyed the brownies. If you have a question be sure to stop by my faq’s for a quick answer.

Note to readers (and other impatient people…)…
You don’t have to wait till these cool to get them out of the pan if you have a cheap plastic knife laying around! You know… the basically useless one that comes in the box of assorted picnic table ware… works wonders for cutting brownies and keeping them pretty!!

Oh.My.Word. These are amazing!! I did half a recipe, used an 8 x 8 glass dish and baked for 25 minutes. Oh, and I used a roasted cashew butter (it was all I had at the moment). I know my husband will love these – darn, that means less for me!! Oh well.. the things we do for the people we love!!

I had to make these for a dear friend of mine who loves baked goods. I did half sunflower butter and half almond butter. Did not have any chocolate chips on hand so we omitted the chocolate chips. They came out sooo good. The hubs loves a good brownie especially ones that come out of a box. ::shudders:: He can tell that was was GF, but ate 4 pieces with some warm soy milk. He was happy. My friend thought they were sensational.

I know I’ve said thank you in the past but I’m in the middle of my pre-passover hunting, and your website has given me hope that one can do Passover and still have all the flavor like normal. I’m making the Blondies recipe you did last year, and this one as well.

Elana. Seriously. These are amazing! I had been making the PB version for years… jar of PB, cup of agave, 2 eggs, baking soda… but the addition of the cocoa powder… it was like a DUH moment! LOL! I over-did my almond butter brownie indulgence one time and have not craved them for quite some time, but these are in the oven as we speak and they smell delicious! I licked the bowl… yum! Actually, I drove to the store in the snow to get a new jar of almond butter just to make these! How’s that for powerful cravings! LOL! Thanks again and again… you always have just what I am looking for! (Except crepes… I thought you had a crepe recipe? Am I losing my mind?)

These brownies are FABULOUS. You must try them! All four of my kids and their friends loved them. They rise beautifully. No one could identify the mystery ingredient ~~ almond butter! I was worried because I used a cheapie store brand almond butter, also I was short 1/4 c. agave. I substituted molasses and honey. They were still amazing.

How amazing. No flour at all in this recipe. Delicious. Made em last nite. Easy and sooooo tasty. I will add walnuts next time. The texture was just great. TY Elana you clever cook you! BTW I am working on the German Chocolate Cake as I write! Can’t wait to eat it up yum.

I just stumbled across your site while googling for flourless recipes! I have been here well over an hour and enjoyed every minute! I have recently been on a “greener”, healthier journey and am excited to add your site to my list! Cindee

OMG…I skimmed this the other day, and Kim actually made your brownies and just brought one to my desk! I didn’t notice the shout out to me! Thanks! And wow, am I ever glad I inspired you!!! These are even more gorgeous than you can imagine. And unbelievably good for you! AMAZING! Bravo, Elana!

Hi,
I’m always checking your website but I have never commented before. My daughter just made these brownies and cannot stop going on and on about how ‘real’ they taste! The texture is like regular brownies and they are soooo good! Thanks so much for an amazing recipe!

Looks DELICIOUS! I’ve been meaning to thank you, Elana, for your recipes and your website which has become my latest obsession. I’ve tried only two of your recipes so far: your chocolate chip cookies and your double chocolate mocha cookies – both of which are now at the top of my list of favorites! I want to try these but I, as well, need some sort of egg substitute. If anyone has any suggestions, or tries the recipe with something in place of eggs, please post your report! :)

Lauren B -Yup. I like to keep it simple :-) Thanks for your sweet comment!

Mandy -Thanks! I think it’s worth a try without the chocolate chips; please let us know how they turn out.

sara kay -It sounds like this just might be the brownie recipe for you! I hope you like it.

The Wind Attack -Almond butter is a favorite of mine too.

Alisa -Thank you! I have a hunch that these would be amazing with peanut butter; if you do decide to experiment, please let us know how they turn out.

Hayley -Thanks, hope you like ’em!

Meagan -You had me a little worried with that first sentence! Then I saw the second sentence and was delightfully relieved :-) Thanks! I think you will love experimenting with coconut flour.

VeggieGirl -Thanks!

april -Please let us know how these turn out with carob. I’m glad you like my Green Goddess Dressing :-) I’m working on a tortilla recipe.

Beth -What a lovely coincidence! Glad I could preemptively do that conversion work for you :-)

Derj -Thanks! Glad you are enjoying these recipes.

Emily -You’re welcome! These are very yummy and I’m sure your husband will enjoy them, especially since they were made by you :-) These might turn out just fine without the chips; if you decide to experiment, please let us know how it turns out.

Hi Elana, it’s my first time here. I came from Tastespotting. I was in such a surprise after going through the ingredients list. I was wondering if I missed anything seeing that it uses only almond butter and cocoa. I used to think that gluten free baking is difficult because it requires ingredients like xanathan gum etc, which you don’t find in the regular grocery store. This is a very good recipe, I have to think of some suitable egg substitute though.

These are sooo delicious-definitely the tastiest and easiest GF brownie recipe I have ever tried! I love not having to measure several different kinds of GF flours. I also added flaked coconut and might try dried cranberries next time too. Yum!

HOLY MOLY! Just the title of this post made me lift from my chair… and then I read on and a huge smile came across my face. THANK YOU!

As a little girl, Dad and I made brownies one of the food groups. Since engaging in a wheat and dairy-free lifestyle, “brownie-time” no longer fit into an enjoyable experience. Once again, Elana, you have found a way to Bake Joy back into my life. I am grateful and very appreciative :)

I’ve used quite a few of your recipes before. I’m diabetic and, needless to say, am very health concious these days. In particularly Carbs, Total & Saturated fat, Sodium, & Cholesterol. You make such incredible looking foods. Would you stat including the nutritional values in your recipes?

Thanks Elana!
Such a treat. Even though I can’t eat these because of the sugar in the chips, I just might have to torture myself and make them for my husband because they just look too darn good!
I wonder if I subbed the choc chips for something else if they’d still work? Then they wouldn’t be brownies then though… hmm. I could leave the choc chips out altogether maybe? Or do you think that wouldn’t work? Not sure…
Anyway, these look great. Hope you are well! :-)

hi Elana, i’m in the uk and unsure of what almond butter is.
i have to give up gluten and dairy for 2 months (see if things settle after a 5 month bout of upset tummy) isn’t chocolate dairy though as it contains milk fat (maybe different in the u.k to u.s.)
i am struggling with some of the ingredients here (probably difference in language use). i have been looking for diary/gluten free brownies and flapjacks. I notice the americans use flapjack for pancake….can you help please?
many thanks yvonne

Hi, Yvonne, I’m in the UK too and you can get almond butter in Holland and Barrett and some supermarkets – I’ve even seen it in some of the bigger Co-ops. It’s expensive though – c. £2.75 for a 170g jar, and you’d need three jars for this recipe…

You can get chocolate that has no dairy. Again, somewhere like Holland and Barrett is a good bet, but again, it’s expensive!

I haven’t actually found a dairy/gluten-free flapjack recipe yet, but I would think you could use a normal recipe, just using gluten-free oats (again, easily available, though expensive) and subbing something like coconut oil for the butter? Also maple syrups is lovely instead of golden syrup and a bit healthier!

I live in Czech and make my own homemade almond butter- it’s cheaper, and works just as well! Just whir in your food processor for about 10 minutes, and voila- almond butter! As for chocolate, there are plenty of baking chocolate brands in Europe that don’t contain milk. I use the Czech brand Orion- it’s my favorite!

They looked good until I saw the 1 cup of cocoa powder. Then they looked amazing! I myself have been wanting a good brownie recipe. I am going to start experimenting with coconut flour! In the meantime, I am going to try these :) Love your recipes Elena, as always.

These look fantastic! I have a couple silly questions. How do these end up looking so flour-based without any flour? Also, do you think pb would work in a pinch? Aside from flavor differences, I am curious if there would be a texture issue at all. Thanks!

Although I have not been tested for glut intolerance, I have been wanting to get my hands on some recipies that do not have gluten or sugar, sugar, sugar. Tonight is my first night baking these (and I am not a baker or a good cook) and am very intrigued as to how they will come out. I notice that there are a lot of differnet sizes for baking dishes in the almond cookbook. My question is, what does the size of the baking dish contribute to the quality and/or texture of the finished product?

Just bought your cupcake book and made the chocolate cupcakes. Came out of the oven BEAUTIFULLY….however, as they began to cool they quickly went down in size. What did I do or not do right? Very sad and frustrated. Please help. Thanks!

I made these today without the chips – it is amazing how they come out “cake-like” with no flour! We are very happy to have found this recipe – we were missing out on brownies and yummy cake goodies. I will make this again. I did put walnuts on top. Plus the batter tasted like fudge – I almost didn’t bake it!

Brownies with just almond butter and cocoa? Wow, your creativity never ceases to amaze me Elana. Bet they taste as good as they look! As soon as I can get to the store for almond butter, I will definitely be giving these a shot. :) They are just beautiful!

I have made these brownies a few times and everyone raves about them. I do not tell people that they are gluten free until after they have 2 to 3 of them and the faces of surprise are the best. I have recently started the Paleo lifestyle and have no intentions of looking back. This website is a gift and I always look forward in learning new ways to cook. Thanks

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